Defiance
by storiesfornow
Summary: He is the leader of a gang. She is just an average woman trying to survive. In this world, it's either eat or be eaten. In other words, fight or die. (Rated M for mature content in future chapters.)
1. Introduction

**None of the characters or Once Upon a Time belong to me.**

* * *

She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had last seen sunlight. She wasn't sure what day it was. He had been drugging her ever since she was taken. Left alone in the damp, dark room. There was a single light fixture at the top of the room that flickered when it was on. There were no windows in the room. He would come in every now and then to give her food and bathroom privileges, but other than that, Emma never got to see his face. She had been beaten or punished only a few times while she was there, only because she had tried to attack him and escape. She didn't even know who this man was or what he wanted from her. She wasn't sure how long she would be alive.

Why she had been taken, she would never know. She was never going to get out of here. All she remembered before being struck in the head was that she was chasing down one of her bail skips down an alleyway. The guy jumped the fence and she ran up to him to catch him when someone hit her over the head from behind. The next thing she knew, was that she was tied up in the chair in the room that smelled of mold.

The guy hardly said anything to her. He always had a sickening grin on his face. Emma also took notice of the gun that he always had at his side. To say she was scared was a complete understatement. When sudden banging noises, loud footsteps, screaming and yelling came from upstairs, that made everything worse. Her heart beat erratically in her chest. The people above her didn't sound very friendly. But, it wasn't like she could cry out for help. Her hands were tied behind her back and a piece of duct tape was over her mouth.

The unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out and more shouting. Tears slipped down her cheeks. _'I'm going to die here,'_ she thought. More loud footsteps were all over the house. She could hear that it was multiple sets, so whoever was here didn't come alone.

Normally, Emma Swan wasn't one to give up so easily in hard situations, but she didn't have any kind of weapon on her to fight back or untie herself. Sure, living wasn't the easiest when she was always alone, but that didn't mean she wanted to die. No, no. That was the last thing she wanted to do. But, she didn't know how long she would have to survive in the basement before either dying or slowly losing her insanity- whichever came first. Either way, both of those options didn't sound very appealing to her.

The basement door suddenly swung open, and she looked up. Her eyes weren't used to the bright light that came flooding in through the open door. Emma's eyes watered and she turned her head away. The man knelt down in front of her, but it wasn't Walsh. A strong scent of cologne filled her nose and she wanted to take a deep inhale of it, but since her life was on the line, all she could do was wonder if this person was going to be her savior, or her worst nightmare.

"Don't scream," the man warned her. She looked up at him and saw that he had dark hair and scruff on his face. "This is going to hurt," he mumbled as he grabbed the duct tape and ripped it off her mouth. Over the past couple of days in the basement with the man who had abducted her, the times that she had misbehaved or tried to escape were turned into punishments. The tape that was quickly ripped off her mouth hurt a lot less than the raw skin because of the ropes around her wrists. The man with the scruff moved behind her and cut the ropes from her wrists and sliced through the duct tape around her ankles.

"D-don't hurt me," she pleaded. Her voice rough and scratchy. Even she hadn't recognized it.

"Humbert, Nolan, down here now!" The man yelled. He looked back down to Emma and shook his head. "You are going to be just fine, love. Can you stand?"

"I-I don't know." He held out his hands for her and helped her stand up on shaky legs. She slowly let go of him and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. _'I'm free.'_ The thought went around and around her head as a smile appeared on her face internally. Outside, she was terrified. Was her kidnapper dead? Had these men shot him and killed him? There was only one gunshot sound and the man who had untied her didn't seem to be injured. He didn't seem to have any blood on him at all either.

Two men stumbled down the steps. She couldn't see much of them, only that one had scruff while the other had a clean shave. "Get Miss Swan to the car. We have to have Whale look at her."

"How do you know my name?" Emma asked, looking between the three men that were surrounding her.

"I promise that I will answer whatever questions you may have as soon as you are looked at by a doctor and have some food in you." The man who untied her put a hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly. He looked back up at the two men and nodded. One of them wrapped his arm around her shoulders and helped her up the steps.

Emma was all but pushed out of the house, not getting a chance to look around at her surroundings. She was then taken to a black van and was helped into the car in the very back of it. One of the men came to sit in the row of seats in front of her while the other moved to the passenger's seat. None of them said one word about who they were or how they found her. But, she didn't find herself in much of a talking mood anyway. It was only a few minutes later when the first man came out of the house and to the driver's side. He quickly started the van up and pulled away from the curb. A loud explosion made Emma turn around in her seat as much as she could to see that the house was up in flames. Her breath caught in her throat. Only one thought went around in her brain.

Who the hell are these people, and what did they want with her?

* * *

Author's Note

This is the first thing I have published on, so I beg for some mercy. But, criticism is welcome. Chapters will eventually get longer.


	2. Decisions, Decisions

She didn't remember falling asleep on the way back to wherever they were going. All Emma knew when she woke up was that she was on a very comfortable bed in a white room with bright fluorescent lights. She sat up in the bed and looked around the room. It was pretty plain with only the white walls, the lights on the ceiling, and the hospital equipment next to the bed. There was an IV in her hand and a sharp pain in her sides. She figured that her ribs were either cracked or broken, but she certainly wasn't going to get up to find someone who probably knew what was going on. All she wanted was to go home and snuggle up in her bed, binge watch some TV show while drinking a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon on top, and eating a grilled cheese with some onion rings.

She still didn't know what day it was or where she was. She wasn't sure if she was even safe where she was at. Her head throbbed and her sides burned with every breath. She couldn't understand what had made her the target for a kidnapping anyway. But, she knew that she had a lot of questions. That much was obvious. She wanted to know about the men that had saved her. Who the guy was that kidnapped her. How the men knew that she was there. Why they had risked their lives. She wanted to know how they knew her. She wanted to know where she was at. But most importantly, she wanted to know if she was free. If she was going to have to be in debt to the men that had saved her life for the rest of her life, then that would probably be worse than anything in the world.

She leaned back against the pillows and looked around the room some more, trying to calm herself down. As she rested some more, she found her eyelids getting heavier. While in the basement, the days dragged on. She barely slept and barely ate in fear of being poisoned. But, the times that she had managed to drift off to sleep, she found herself plagued with nightmares about what the man had in store for her. What he was going to do to her. She figured that this time wouldn't be any different. Emma couldn't fight sleep this time though. While being in a comfortable bed for the first time in what felt like forever to her, she couldn't ignore the calls that sleep kept sending her.

Later, after she woke up again, voices filled the room. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked against the harsh light, accidentally letting out a grunt of pain as she moved around. The lights were suddenly dimmed and she could open her eyes without any discomfort. "Emma, can you hear me?" A female voice asked.

The blonde looked over to see a brunette wearing a red blouse and black jeans looking down at her. "Where am I? Who are you? What do you want from me?" She couldn't help the questions that sputtered out of her mouth.

"Relax, Emma. My name is Ruby and that man there," she pointed to a man wearing a lab coat. He looked up from the clipboard and waved. "Is Victor Whale. He is the doctor who is treating you."

"Where am I?" Emma asked, darting her eyes around the room.

"Safe," Ruby quickly replied. "I will get Killian in here and he can talk with you more."

"Who's that? I want answers!" She yelled, becoming frustrated. A fast beeping sound filled the room. It took a moment to realize that it was her heart rate that was making the noise because of it being monitored.

"You will get them," Ruby assured in a calm voice. "I will go get Killian." The brunette left the room without another word.

It was only a few minutes that the woman was gone, but she soon returned with the man who had untied her back in the basement. Killian definitely was a name that suited him. He pulled up a leather chair and sat down, then waved his hand. The doctor and the woman both stopped what they were doing and left the room. The unmistakable sound of a lock clicking was heard, and Emma felt fear strike her. She heard on the monitor how her heartbeat picked up again at the fear of being alone.

"Relax," he murmured in a British, almost Irish accent. "I won't hurt you."

"How do I know that?"

"Because if I was going to, I already would have."

"Unless you are trying to get me to trust you and when I least expect it, you will kill me or something." Okay, she had to admit that, that was a little far-fetched, but could you really blame her?

He chuckled, "you've been hurt before. But, I can assure you that all I want is your safety. Now, I know that you probably have some questions."

"Some? Try a whole lot."

"I will start with the obvious. Your medical health. You are dehydrated so you will need to get some food and water in you. You have cracked two ribs and have a minor concussion. For the most part though, you will be fine."

"Who are you? Who were those men of yours that were with you when you rescued me? Do you know who it was that kidnapped me?"

"My name is Killian Jones, darling. I am the leader of a gang called Defiance. We seek justice for the victims that police aren't allowed to get against a criminal. Those men that were with me are David Nolan and Graham Humbert. They are also in my gang. The man that kidnapped you went by the name of Walsh Oz. He also was a member of my gang."

"Then why did you blow up his house?"

"Technically it was my house. It was one of our safe houses. We have them all over New York with each member living in one in case we need them in a crisis. To be a part of Defiance, you must follow the rules. We are a gang seeking justice, not vengeance. Yes, we may kill and torture from time to time, but it is always against the guilty. Never an innocent. You were an innocent that got caught in the crossfire. My men have been working on the clock to find you. Once we had, all we had to do was punish Walsh and then we were done."

"So what happens to me now?"

"Now, you have two options. One, join the gang and become a member, or we take you back to your apartment and you will never hear from any of us again."

"How are you so sure that I won't take what I know to the police?"

"Because, my dear Swan, the police already know about us. Your information to them would be useless. They don't know where we are or how to find us. Neither do you."

"What happens if I join you?"

"You get initiated and I will assign you a place to be in after we have evaluated you. You can either be put behind the scenes in planning, computer tracking, medical science, or a household maid. But, if you impress us, you get brought out to the field and brought along on missions. You still get access to the outside world and will interact with people, but you would be living with us- wherever we decide to put you. You would abandon your old life and never go back to it. Your home would be here."

"Who is this 'we' thing?" Emma asked, adjusting the controls of the bed so she was in more of a sitting position than she was lying down.

"We is the group. It would be me. We is just a more friendly term. Like room is a nicer word for prison cell."

Emma let out a weak laugh, "I'm not so sure that's the same thing." She looked back up at him and saw how he was biting back a smile. "What if I want to leave the group?"

"There is no leaving," Killian replied in a cold tone. "Leaving results in death."

"Encouraging," she mumbled sarcastically. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course. I will give you until dusk tomorrow." He stood up and pushed the chair back to the corner of the room. "Any more questions?"

"Just one, actually. How long was I in that basement?"

"About two weeks. If there was anything that happened that you are concerned about, bring it to mine, Dr. Whale's, or Ruby's attention. We are here to help, Emma. Not to harm you." He grabbed her left hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "If you need me, just tell someone and I will be on my way. If anyone gives you trouble, please tell Ruby and she will alert me."

"Okay," Emma squeaked. She had no idea where her confidence had gone. Killian was a handsome man. That she couldn't deny. It was enough to sit so close to him and have a conversation with him, and another for him to kiss her hand. His stubble scratching at her skin making her wonder what it felt like in other places on her body. Her cheeks warmed instantly at those kinds of thoughts and she quickly shoved them out of her mind.

"I will see you soon enough, love," he whispered, giving her a single wink as he left the room.

As soon as the doors closed, Emma found that she was conflicted because of her choice. She could either go back to her normal life, or she could become a member of Defiance and give up her old life. It wouldn't really matter if she left her old life. She had no friends, a crappy apartment, and a crappy car. But, with her job, she was doing what she had always done best. Finding people. The only people that she couldn't find were her parents, but that was besides the point. She was helping people. But, if she joined Defiance, there was a chance that she could be finding the bad guys. Even worse than her old bail jumpers. Those people were just people who couldn't pay up. But, if she joined the group, then she could be finding people who had killed, robbed, or hurt other people. But, then again, if she joined, there was no option of leaving. She would be giving up a part of her freedom. It was that thought that kept her going. Maybe if she joined, then she could be making a difference. Even if she had one hand on the wheel, she could still steer. It couldn't be that bad if Killian had people in his group.

With a big sigh, Emma adjusted the bed until she was laying down again. Victor came back into the room and drew some blood and added medicine to her IV. Ruby came in with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, some crackers, and some water. Victor gave her two pills that would help her pain before they both left the room. Emma ate and swallowed the pills. As they took their affect, Emma knew that she would have to make her decision, but she still had time. It was that final thought that put her at ease before settling into another deep sleep.

* * *

"Fish," Emma said, loving the way Ruby groaned in annoyance.

"Damn! How come you keep beating me? I have fished the last three turns and you keep making the books over there!"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just really good at this game," the blonde laughed. "Ruby? Can I ask you a question?"

"I believe you just did." The brunette laughed and nudge Emma's arm. "I'm just kidding. What is it?"

"What do you do here?"

"Lots of things really. Sometimes I help Victor out here and sometimes I go out and help track people with Killian and his guys."

"Do you like it here?"

"Oh absolutely! I have so many friends here. Killian took me in when I was only sixteen. My boyfriend had just been shot and my parents and grandmother were dead. I was on my own with no knowledge about the world. I have been here with them since. I owe Killian my life."

"He gave me a choice. He said that I could either go back to my old life, or I could make a new one here. I'm just scared that there will be this rule that needs to be followed and I don't want to do it. He said that I couldn't leave if I joined."

"I don't think you would want to. Killian may be the leader of this gang, but he takes care of us. He is a nice guy. Guarded, but nice. He can become a real nightmare if someone betrays him or lies to him though. He's never gotten angry towards me, but plenty of people who have needed to be interrogated."

"What's the initiation process?"

"Oh," Ruby put her cards down and lowered her sleeve. There was a small burn mark in the shape of a hook. "It's just a small little burn. Only hurts for a few weeks."

"What happens if a member gets hurt or something? How does he deal with that?"

"He goes out to get justice as if we were any other person."

Emma nodded, "I see. I have nothing to lose if I join except for my freedom."

"Killian would never include you in something you wouldn't approve of. If you don't like something, you are welcome to sit out the mission. Whether you are out on the field with him or behind the scenes with some others. He will do whatever he sees necessary to get justice for a victim, but if you don't agree with it, you don't have to go along with it. But he will do it whether he has permission to or not. He is the leader. He runs the ship. He doesn't take orders from anyone."

"So, do you think it would be a good thing if I joined?"

"Yes! Oh, we'd have so much fun! I could introduce you to Mary Margaret and Elsa. We could go shopping on the weekends and all that wonderful stuff!" Ruby clapped her hands together excitedly. "But, that all would probably happen after you are assigned a post."

"Post?"

"Yeah. Where you will work. Since you aren't married to anyone, you will live in the penthouse. It's where the main operations take place."

"Excuse me? Did you say _married_?" Emma asked, choking on the air.

"Yeah. Mary Margaret is married to David. Elsa is married to Jack. I am married to Victor. The couples get their own houses. We live in the safe houses around the city. Since David and Jack are some of Killian's main men, they live closer to the penthouse. Victor and I stay here in the infirmary building about three blocks from the penthouse. Graham and August live in the penthouse along with Killian. You will probably live there too."

"Wow," Emma sighed. "This is a lot to take in."

"I know, but you'll get used to it. You will be training for the first few months. Even if you are assigned to stay behind, you need to know how to defend yourself."

"I'm sure extra fighting skills wouldn't hurt," the blonde laughed nervously.

"When did Killian say he'd be around?"

"Before dusk I think."

"Have you made your decision?"

"I think so. As I said, I don't have anything to lose if I join. Are you sure he will take care of my living and eating expenses?"

"Of course! And if he doesn't, I certainly will. You are my friend now."

"So this is what it feels like to make friends?" Emma asked. Ruby cocked her head to the side in a silent question. "I don't really have friends. I've always been some sort of a loner."

"We all are. It takes sometime to get used to the changes. We all treat each other as if we were family. No matter your past, you are welcome here to try to shape your future."

"It sounds like college and not like a gang," Emma chuckled.

"You'll like it here. Trust me. We all do."

"Then why did Walsh want an out?"

"He fell in love with a woman from another gang. He wanted to get out to join her and marry her. He thought that if he held an innocent, Killian would give him whatever he wanted. Everyone knows how much Killian hates letting innocents get caught up in the crossfire."

"I hope that he doesn't see me as weak or a mistake."

"Of course he wouldn't. Even if you were, he would build you up. Make you strong and independent. Just as I said, we are a big family. We look out for one another."

"I wouldn't know what that's like," Emma mumbled. "I've never had a family longer than three years."

"That's about to change." Ruby reached over and hugged her new friend gently. "Do you want me to get him early? He'd be pleased to know you came to a conclusion so soon."

"Just tell him that I've accepted his deal to join the gang. There's no need for him to march all the way down here."

"I'll tell him that," Ruby said with a smile. "Ooh! I can't wait to get to know you, Emma." She left the room with a smile on her face. The blonde found it contagious.

"Me too, Ruby," Emma said to herself. "Me too."

While Ruby was gone, Emma felt herself becoming bored. She grabbed the remote to the television and switched it on, but found that nothing was on, so, she let her thoughts wander yet again. Killian seemed like a nice enough man, but she knew not to trust someone on their first impressions. That mistake had been made once before, and she wouldn't make it again. Her past was something that she learned many things from, but it was a thing she wanted to keep buried where it belonged. In the past. The events of her life was sad, and it was better to not think of them. Emma wasn't going to allow a feeling in her chest to change her way of thinking.

Normally, Emma relied on her instincts. She had what she liked to call a superpower. She was good at knowing when someone was lying to her. As she listened to Killian and Ruby, she didn't feel any alarms going off in her head, but that didn't mean that she was right. She had been wrong before, but she trusted her superpower most of the time. She knew that it wasn't as good as a lie detector machine, but she was still proud of it. However, Emma knew that she had to remain cautious. She wasn't going to be sent to jail again.

With the way that Ruby had put it, Killian Jones seemed to be a reliable guy. He seemed to be caring too, but those men were normally the most dangerous ones. It could be an act, or it could be genuine. Her future would be based on this decision. She could only hope that she had made the right choice. It could either be the best thing she had ever decided on, or it could be the worst.


	3. Welcome to Defiance

A few days later, Emma was released from the infirmary. Ruby led her outside to where a limo was waiting. She opened the door and Emma got in. Killian was sitting in the limo on the other side of the seats across from her. He wore a blue plaid suit and his hair was parted to the side like it always was. She felt her heartbeat pick up in her chest yet again. Ruby closed the limo door and a moment later, they were moving. Emma allowed herself to look back over to Killian. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she stepped in. She found it strange, but not overly creepy. Butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach. It made her feel uneasy. She had never been one of the girls that allowed herself to be smitten over a boy, but it was like she couldn't help it when it came to the man sitting in front of her.

When she was a teenager, Emma always had a hard time with making friends and getting a boyfriend. Not only were they so much trouble and too much drama, she just couldn't find anybody that really connected with her. There was nobody who didn't mind being friends with an orphan. Then, enter Neal Cassidy. The first guy who ever actually looked at her as if she was his world. That didn't last long however, because he sent her to jail because of the watches that he stole. He had framed her, telling the police that she stole them in the first place.

She had gone to get them from the locker in Portland. They were going to sell them and get the money for them to change their names and move to Tallahassee. Neal left to go and exchange them, giving her one of the watches so she wouldn't be late to meet up after he had gotten the money. It was a little after nine o'clock when he still hadn't returned. For the time being so important to him, he was late himself. She called him and got a message saying his phone number had been disconnected. Then, a police officer showed up and took her to jail for stealing the watches. The only thing Neal had done for her was give her the bug they had rode around in and a keychain that he had stolen for her. After that, she had never seen or heard from him again. It wasn't like she wanted to anyway. He had ruined her life.

Having his baby in jail wasn't very fun either. She had condemned that child to her fate that she had when she was in the foster system. She could only pray each and every night that the baby had found a good home. That her son was living the life she never got to have. Something inside of her just told her that he was with some family, living the life of a little boy with no trouble in the world. It was that anonymous voice in her head that told her that, that gave her enough relaxation to put her to sleep at night.

Ever since being framed by Neal, Emma Swan never let herself swoon over any guy. Sure, she had her fair share of one night stands to scratch an itch that popped up every once in awhile. She had plenty of fancy dresses for when she had to go out on a 'date' with the occasional bail-bonds skip. Most of them had to be taken to the dry cleaners for when the person got rather violent and ran or threw a glass of wine at her. It was the kind of life she lived, and she was happy. Yes, she was tired of being alone, but it wasn't easy to get a date when the only tips you had was how to catch a thief. If there was a guy out there who actually wanted to know everything about her past, she had yet to meet him.

But as she stared at Killian Jones in the seat in front of her, she just knew that there was something different about him. He had some kind of aura that expressed that he wasn't like the rest of the men. She couldn't explain it. Emma wasn't sure that she even wanted to either.

"Why can't anyone leave the gang?" The question just blurted out of her mouth. She couldn't help it. Not only were many thoughts roaming around her head, but so were many questions.

"If anyone left, they could go to the police. If they went to the police, they would tell them everything about what we do, putting our lives in danger. I can't let that happen," Killian explained.

"Oh." Emma looked away from Killian's eyes. He was staring at her so hard, she was afraid that he would drill a hole into her head. "Where will I be living now?"

"I like to call it Home Base," he said, folding his hands in his lap. "It's the penthouse suite in New York. I live there with two other guys. August and Graham. People will always be coming in and out on the downstairs level. That is where the main kitchen, the living room, the surveillance room, interrogation room, and the gym and training rooms are. On the upper level are the bedrooms. There are kitchenettes in all the bedrooms. A living area is there as well. No one really goes up there without consent of me or Graham and August. Now you as well."

"Why not just assign me a safe house? Then you wouldn't have to have me around."

"I just met you, Swan. I'm not sure if I can trust you just yet. Besides, I am a very fun flatmate," he said with a wink.

Emma rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, though a smile was trying to find its way to her lips. "What position will I be in?"

"You'll be on the field with me, Graham, David, and a few other members of Defiance. I have done my share of research on you, Miss Swan. Trust me, I liked what I read about you."

"How?" She asked defensively. "You liked the fact that you read I was an orphan and sent to jail, then became a bail-bonds person?"

"You have fire," he said, moving to the empty space beside her. "You are strong and you can fight. Not many of the members in this gang have brought that here. We've always had to train them for months before they were ready to get to where I am placing you on your first day. I will still train you, but it won't be months of work. Just a few weeks and you will be ready to go out to the streets alongside me." He leaned back against the door and licked his lips, bringing Emma's attention to his mouth. She quickly darted her eyes back to his. "You know pain. That will fuel your anger when you go out there, making you even more dangerous than you already were. This will be your home. The thing that you have been missing all these years."

"Please tell me you aren't one of those destiny and hope and "you were meant to join a group that takes down bad guys for justice" kind of men," she pleaded, looking at him with amusement in her eyes.

"Of course not. But I do believe that you will be the best new recruit we have had in a very long time."

Emma took a deep breath, letting that thought hang over her head. If Killian expected so much of her, she definitely couldn't let him down now. She would be disappointing now only him, but herself as well. He had so much faith in her. She couldn't let him down now. He was the first person to ever really have faith in her before. The thought of having someone doing that for her was foreign to her. No foster parent had ever trusted her. They had never loved her. Killian was giving her something that she didn't have much of. Something she had never had much of.

Hope.

* * *

"Graham is going to give you the tour around the penthouse. I had Mary Margaret and Elsa go to your old apartment to get some of your essentials. You will find them in your room. You can unpack there. Please, help yourself to whatever you want in the fridge and pantry." Killian offered her a small smile and squeezed her shoulder before walking away.

"I've heard a lot about you, Miss Swan," a man said as he walked towards her. He held out his hand and shook Emma's. "My name is Graham Humbert."

"Killian's mentioned you," Emma said, nodding her head.

"More than today?" He asked. She nodded and he laughed. "That's shocking. Killian never really talks about any of us." He waved his hand, "come, I'll show you your room." Graham led Emma to a spiral staircase. They went up and to a wooden door. He opened the door and Emma gaped at the room.

It had white carpet and chocolate brown walls. There was a white couch in front of a flat screen television that was mounted to the wall over a brick fireplace. The bed had white sheets and blankets. Brown decorative pillows sat at the head of the bed. There was a closet in the back of the room and a bathroom attached. A white dresser with a mirror on top sat next to a set of floor to ceiling windows.

"This room is huge," she said, looking around.

Graham chuckled behind her. "Yes. Killian picked this room out for you specifically." Emma turned around and cocked her head to the side, but the man ignored it. "Come on, I'll show you the rest of the penthouse."

Graham took her around, showing her the rooms in the penthouse. The surveillance room had a bunch of computers and equipment that she had no idea how to use, but was interesting nonetheless. The gym had weightlifting sets and treadmills, steppers, and ellipticals. In the training room, there was padding on all the walls and the floors. There was also a few punching bags scattered throughout the room. Boxing gloves sat on racks. There was even a boxing ring in the center of the room. The training room seemed to be the biggest room in the entire penthouse. Graham also showed her the kitchen and the living room. He showed her the bathroom that was on the downstairs level before taking her back upstairs and showing her where his and August's rooms were. They came down to the end of the hallway, but he didn't open the door.

"What's this room?" Emma asked, pointing to the door.

"Killian's room. No one really goes in there. You'd do best if you stayed out of there," Graham warned.

"What would he do if I didn't? Punish me?" Emma asked jokingly. But, Graham's facial expression didn't change. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Stay away from Killian's room. Got it. Is that all?"

"Pretty much. You'll get the feel of everything with each day that passes and you are here."

She nodded. "Great. Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go unpack."

Graham smiled. "I hope you find a place for everything. If you need any help, don't hesitate to come to either me or August. Killian will help you too. Anyone here will, really."

She nodded again and turned away from him. Emma made her way back to her bedroom and closed the door. She put her clothes away and put her medicines and toiletries under the sink and in the cabinet in the bathroom. It didn't take her long to unpack. She didn't have much as it was. She had never been much of a sentimental person. Once she was done, she laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. So much had happened that day. She could only imagine that things would get even more busy with the days to come.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed later when there was a knock at the door. Emma got up off the bed and opened her bedroom door, seeing Killian on the other side. She offered him a small smile and stepped aside, allowing him to come into the room. He did and looked around for a moment before shifting his attention back to her.

"I see you are all unpacked," he stated.

"Yeah. I'm not much of a sentimental person. It didn't take long."

"Aye, neither am I." As he looked into her eyes, his gaze became distant. He fixed that so fast, Emma questioned herself if he had really just lost himself in his thoughts, or if it was all in her head. He dug in his pocket for something before handing it to her. She opened her palm and saw a key. "It's for your bedroom. You might as well lock the door whenever you leave." She nodded and put the key in her back pocket. "Well, since that was all I needed you to have, I might as well go. Dinner will be served at six o'clock sharp." She nodded and he went to the door.

"Thank you for everything, Killian."

"It's not a problem, Swan." He flashed her a toothy smile. His pearly white teeth showing. "Welcome to Defiance."


	4. When the Past Comes Back

The next morning, Emma was acquainted with all the people from the group. Many of them seemed like nice people. She had been told that one of the members was running late and would meet up with her later. Many of the members of Defiance were interested in taking her under their wing. She found it funny that a few of them even argued about it. She didn't think the arguing was that big of a deal because Killian didn't bother to stop them.

Even if it was only one day in the group, she was starting to like it. None of the people actually seemed to trigger alarm warnings in her head. She looked over to Killian to see amusement on his face. Once she met his eyes, he stood up straighter and tensed up. He pulled one of the men out of the room. It was only a few minutes until they both returned. Once Killian cleared his throat, everybody went silent and turned to look at him.

"August is going to be training Emma for the next few months," he announced. "She is a tough lass, but will still need to be informed on Defiance rules and fighting strategies. Get to work!"

A string of "yes sirs" filled the room and everybody disbanded and went to their posts. Some people left through the elevator and others disappeared into the penthouse. Emma watched as Killian made his way up the stairs. August walked up to her and held out his hand.

"My name is August Booth, Emma. I will be teaching you the ways of the group. If there are any questions that you need me to answer for you, please don't hesitate to ask them."

"Great. Yeah, no I don't think there is anything I have to ask. How about we begin?"

"Sure. Do you have some workout clothes you want to change into?"

"Yeah. Give me two minutes?" August nodded and watched as she went up the stairs. He pulled out his phone, seeing a text from the one gang member who hadn't showed up this morning to be introduced to Emma. The color in the man's face drained. He forwarded the text to Killian. A few seconds later, the man himself bounced down the stairs. His posture tensed and an angry expression on his face.

"Pan sent out the shipment? We were supposed to get that this morning!" He yelled in August's direction, but was on the phone with the gang member, Neal Cassidy. "I sent you out there to get the shipment. When you come back here, I better have those drugs!" He hung up the phone and exhaled. "I need some rum," he muttered as he walked into the kitchen.

Emma came down the stairs. A tank top and shorts on and her hair was up in a ponytail. "Let's go start my training."

The dark haired man led the blonde woman into the training room and brought her to the boxing ring. She stepped up while he grabbed her a pair of boxing gloves and a mouth guard. "Put these on," he instructed. "It is important to always keep your guard up, no matter where you are and who you're with. Even if you have a weapon on you. You always need to be prepared to attack somebody." August threw a punch at Emma, but she dodged it at the last second and moved away so she didn't get hit. "Good, but you left your midsection open, vulnerable for an attack."

Emma threw a punch, but August jumped back and grabbed Emma's arm, flipping her over and throwing her to the mat on her back. She groaned as pain shot down her spine. "Alright, alright, you've proved your point," she groaned, ignoring August's hand to help her up. She held her gloves up in front of her face. "Come on."

He surged forward, but she moved out of the way at the last second, causing him to run into the bands of the ring and fall the ground. She suddenly lost her footing as she fell to the ground next to him. She flipped on her back to look at the man towering over her. She scrambled off the ground and swung up to punch him. August stumbled back as punches continued to rain down on him. Emma pulled back, breathing heavily.

"That's more like it!" August said happily.

"It's not all I can do," she told him, kicking him in the leg, causing him to fall back. "How about that?"

August reached up and pulled Emma down and she fell on top of him. "I'd say to be careful about how cocky you get, even in the practice ring. Your opponent can always find time to strike."

She looked down at August into his blue eyes. "I guess I needed more training than I thought."

"It's okay. You can always improve."

Suddenly, the training room door opened and both of the adults looked over to see Killian coming into the room. She scrambled to get off of August and they both stood up. "I apologize that I have seemingly interrupted whatever was going on in here," he began. Emma opened her mouth as if to protest, but Killian didn't give her the chance to speak. "We are going to pick up some drugs from Pan tonight. Neal fucked things up today so we have to get him out of it. Shower and change and let's go," he spit out harshly, then slammed the training room door behind him.

The blonde shared a glance to the dark haired man before slipping out of the ring and chasing after Killian. She followed him upstairs and stopped him moments before he went into his room at the end of the hall. "Killian, wait. You didn't interrupt anything in there. There was nothing to interrupt."

"Then why were you laying on top of one of my best men?"

"He pulled me down and I fell on him! I've only been here one day and you think that there is something going on between me and August?"

"It certainly can happen."

"I came here to be apart of something, not to let myself take an interest in a guy."

Killian leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and letting a smirk appear on his lips. He tilted his head to the side, looking at Emma with an expression that made her feel exposed to him. "You've been hurt before, haven't you?"

She tensed up and clenched her fists. Memories of her life after she had gotten out of the foster system flashed behind her eyes. The way he had _left her._ Framed her and had her sent to jail to take the fall for _his_ crime. To end up alone in that awful place. It was because of the things that he had done to her that made her put up walls around her heart to protect herself from the dangers of men and what each and every single one of them had to offer.

Life was not a fairytale where you could just meet someone, fall in love, and that would be it. Her parents had given her up when she was only a baby. Left her on the side of the road. They couldn't even stand the sight of her long enough to take her to an orphanage or a hospital. The torture she had been subject to when she was a kid was enough, but add in the heartbreak and abandonment she had from the man that she thought she loved? And thought that he loved her back? It was enough to send anybody over the edge, but Emma had been called tough and strong too many times to count. She wouldn't let her past define her future.

She hadn't seen _him_ for almost ten years. Had no reminders except for the swan keychain that she still wore around her neck as a reminder not to trust anybody ever again. She had nothing of him left. Emma certainly wasn't going to complain. Her life had gotten so much better after she got out of jail. She didn't let herself love or be loved by anybody. Everybody just showed that they were going to leave or have her sent away. _He_ was no different. No matter how much she wished that he was in those lonely nights in jail when she cried herself to sleep at night, a protective hand over her small baby bump.

Emma let her eyes snap up to Killian's where he was still standing. The same expression on his face that he had when she let herself get caught up and lost in her thoughts. She relaxed the clench of her fists, but kept her tense stance. "I was," she told him. "And I won't ever let it happen again." With that, she turned away from him and disappeared into her room, locking the door behind her. She grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to wash the sweat off her body, wishing the water would clean her mind from her upsetting past.

* * *

She sat in the passenger's seat next to Killian, holding the familiar weapon in her hand. She looked down to the gun in her hand. The safety switch was on, but she still felt uneasy. It wasn't the first time that she had a gun in her hand, but those were always for self defense reasons only. Emma had a feeling that tonight would be different.

"August, you and I will be approaching Pan and his men up front. David and Graham will sneak up from behind and block the other side of the tunnel. I want weapons ready at all times." Killian looked over to Emma. "You will be with me and August, but I want you behind us." She nodded but didn't say anything. They pulled up to the abandoned tunnel where a dark blue van was. Three people stood there, two of them holding guns while the third in the front wore a black suit. "Safety off," he told August and Emma before they got out of the van. "Malcolm Pan! What a _lovely_ meeting," he said sarcastically. "Where is it?"

"Hook. Nice to see you too. I see you added a new recruit. Who is she?" Malcolm asked.

"None of your concern," August cut in. "Where is the package?"

"Ah, yes. Your drugs. I apologize for the mix up. Neal said that you didn't need the shipment until later tonight. But for this mix up, it's going to cost you."

"Name your price," Killian said, gripping his gun tighter.

"Hmm," Malcolm said, stroking his chin as if he was pretending to think. "I think a certain new blonde to add to my collection would suffice." Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream let out behind them. Another man held Emma close to his body. He was a muscular man, but was the same height as she was. "What do you say, Hook? Do we have a deal?" Killian looked back to Emma who was being choked by the muscular man.

"Name something else," Killian said, "or else I start shooting." He held up the handgun, showing that the safety was off and that he was ready for a fight.

Malcolm laughed, "you think that your pathetic little handgun scares me? These men are trained assassins, ready to kill at the drop of a hat. Give me the blonde and you get your drugs."

"I don't like bartering unless it benefits me in all ways. How about I keep the blonde and get my drugs."

"Not likely, Hook. This is the last time I am offering it. Give me the girl or else I walk with her by my side."

"Woman!" Emma shouted and kicked the guy holding her. He fell to his knees and she shot her gun, shooting Malcolm in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. "Are we going to have a problem?"

Malcolm forced out a chuckle. "She's strong. Is that why you are keeping her around?" He nodded to one of the men and he tossed a duffel bag into August's arms. "See you around again soon, _Hook._ " The men got into the van and drove away.

"Do you understand how dangerous that was?" August yelled once the van was out of sight.

"I just met them, but they seem to be the type of guys to not be messed with! Neither of you two looked like you were going to do anything," Emma yelled. "I thought you guys were the ones with the balls," she huffed and walked to the van and got in, angrily slamming the door.

"Can you believe that?" August asked.

"I liked it," Killian said, looking over to August. "Maybe she needs less than six months of training."

* * *

Killian, Emma, August, Graham, and David walked into the penthouse. Emma was the very last one to enter, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the person standing in the living room. He was the last person she expected to see. Especially when walking through the elevator doors. Leaning against the wall, looking down at his phone was none other than Neal Cassidy. The man who had landed her in jail, pregnant, heartbroken, and abandoned.

She gasped audibly, making all the men look at her. Neal looked up but she couldn't find enough strength inside of herself to meet his eyes. Instead, she looked over at Killian who stared at her with concern on his face. "You okay, Swan?"

"Yeah," she said, clearing her throat. "Just gonna go find some water."

"I'll help you out," Neal suddenly said, pocketing his phone and following her into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?" He yelled in a whisper as soon as the door closed.

"Me? What about you! You were the one who abandoned me and sent me to jail ten years ago!"

"Emma-"

"No, you don't get to talk. Not when you did what you did to me. I want to pretend that we don't have a history together. You need to stay out of my way, or else I will kill you." With one last glare, she left the kitchen and stormed upstairs to her bedroom.


End file.
